


Jack of Hearts

by broccococcoli



Category: Fallout - Fandom, Fallout 4, Fallout New Vegas
Genre: Brotherhood of Steel - Freeform, Cannon Divergent, Deathclaw Attacks, Eventual Romance, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Major Character Injury, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:54:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 19,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22357510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/broccococcoli/pseuds/broccococcoli
Summary: The story of Jack Clawface after he left the Mojave and makes his way to the Commonwealth. Takes place after my other work, Ace of Spades, and during the events of Fallout 4.
Relationships: Implied Cutler/Paladin Danse (Fallout), Paladin Danse/Male Sole Survivor
Kudos: 12





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so i posted this one once already, but I wanted to make some revisions. There was a lot of typos I wanted to fix and I wanted to add some things to the chapters I already posted, as well as condense the first two I posted last time into one Prologue. Gonna try to keep updating this one as well as my other multi-chapter fic about Ace.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack leaves for the last time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> edit: i added some shit to the begining of this to put a little more context to why Jack "had" to leave so that you could understand it without reading Ace of Spades first (but you should anyway bc i like it when people read my works uwu)

The room was dark and Jack sat up in bed, trying to be gentle as not to wake Harlow where he slept. Even still, as he pull the covers off his leg, He reached of and tugged on Jack's arm. 

"Wha's wrong?" he mumbled sleep. 

"I just gotta pee," Jack said. "Go back to sleep." 

"Okay," Harlow said with a yawn. "Don't take to long." He rolled over and burrowed back into the blankets. Jack sighed and stood, careful to be quiet as he gather his clothes and got dressed, leaving his boots for when he was out of the room and Harlow wouldn't be able to hear the stomping around. Once out of the room, he was greeting Boone leaning against the wall in the hallway, his trademark beret and shades discard as he inspected Jack with scrutiny.

"So you're leaving then?" he said quietly. 

"Yeah," Jack said. "Got a problem with that?" 

"Does Ace know?"

"No." 

Boone scoffed, a dark smirk on his face. "I heard you had commitment issues, but I didn't think it was _this_ bad," he said. 

"Hey, lay off," Jack said indignantly. "I don't gotta answer to you." 

"Guess not," Boone said. "Just remember if you leave now, you'll be hurting him all over again."

"I don't _remember_ asking, asshole." 

Boone shrugged. "It was just a warning. But if you wanna leave, be my guest. I can't stop you." He stuck his hands into his pockets and went into his own bedroom, closing the door behind him. Jack sighed, leaning down to pull his boots on over his foot, before moving to the kitchen to retrieve his pistol and bag where he had left them the night before. He put on the holster, making sure the gun was secure, and slung his bag over his shoulder. After walking back towards the elevator, he gave a cursory glance to Harlow's bedroom door. He wondered if this was really the right decision. Every part of him screamed at the back of his head to "stay, just stay, be happy with him". And he wished he could listen but from the back of his mind arose a voice telling him he had to run, run as fast as he could. He already hurt Harlow in the past so many times. He always left, that's what he did, but he wanted this to be the last time. He didn't want to keep the cycle going, like a pathetic ouroboros, so he was cutting it off at the head. 

He didn't deserve this, anyway. What had he ever done to be worthy of him, of this casino? All he did was steal and cheat and lie and get high on Jet and have sex with strangers for money. He was useless. Harlow he deserved better. He deserved someone like Boone. 

Jack pressed the call button on the elevator, waiting for it to come up in the dead silence of the Presidential Suite. Once inside, he rode it all the way down to the casino floor, traversing the ancient carpet and out the door, never to step foot inside this silver tower again. 

*****

Jack wasn’t expecting to find anyone in the cave to the Northern Passage when he opened the door, but there they were, a caravan company getting ready to make a trip to a place called Zion. They Called themselves the Happy Trails Caravan Company, and there were about four assholes ready to make a trip out of this desert to some place far away. Luckily for them, that’s where Jack was head, too. He wasn’t too keen on having traveling companions, to be quite frank, but it would honestly make things easier. Traveling alone was dangerous, especially up North, or so he heard.

“Howdy, friend. Heard my little broadcast, did you? Yeah, you look the type,” said the man calling himself Jed Masterson. 

“No, I didn’t hear anything, but if you guys are leaving the Mojave, I want in,” Jack said. 

“Hold on there, sir, just gotta ask you some questions first,” Jed said. “First off, do you own a Pip-Boy.”

Jack lifted his arm to show off the personal computer strapped to his arm. 

“Good, that’s exactly what we need, now. I gotta let you know about the weight limit for your belongings.” 

“Listen, I ain’t got nothing but the clothes on my back, and this gun, I don’t think you need to worry,” Jack told him. 

“Alright, then,” Jed said. “The trip will take a few weeks both ways, totally about two months, but if we end up parting ways once there, I suppose that don’t matter to you?”

Jack shrugged. “Not really.” 

“So you in on the deal?”

“Sure, I just need to get out of this place as fast as possible.” 

“Alright. We leave at dawn tomorrow.” 

*****

The trek was long and harsh, but nothing worse than what he had experienced working as a courier. He had traveled all across the Mojave and gone several days without long rests. It wasn’t anything he wasn’t used to by now. When they made it to the Canyon, however, they were ambushed by a local tribe calling themselves the White Legs. Jack was the only one to survive and he was led to the camp of another tribe, the Sorrows, by a man named Follows Chalk. He brought Jack to a cave where other members of the tribe busied themselves with different tasks and took him through the it to another opening in the cave system where a man wrapped head to toe in bandages sat at a table reloading a stack of .45 pistols. 

“By the Rivers of Babylon-” he started, but Jack cut him off before he could continue. 

“Listen, man, can you spare me the Missionary shtick?” he said. “I’ve encounter enough fanatical Christians to know the gist of what you’re about to say, so can we just fucking cut to the chase for once and get to what you had your lackeys bring me here for?” 

The man squinted his eyes at Jack and placed his pistol on the table with a thump. “Very well,” he said with a sigh. “My name is Joshua Graham, I lead the tribe called the Dead Horses.” 

“Yeah, I know, Follows Chalk filled me in,” Jack said. “I’m Jack Clawface.” 

“Is that your… given name?”

“No, but it’s the one I’m giving you. Can we just get to the job so I can get out of here?” 

“To summarize,” Joshua said. “The Dead Horses and the Sorrows are both under attack by another tribe known as the White Legs. We- my fellow Missionary Daniel and I- are trying to rally them against the White Legs so that they can defend themselves and their home here in Zion, but we need assistance to do so.” 

“And that’s where I come in?” Jack asked. 

“Yes. In return for your help, we will offer you safe passage out of the canyon and back to the Mojave-” 

“I’m not going back to the Mojave,” Jack said. 

“Very well, we will grant you safe passage out of the canyon to wherever it is you would like to go, and offer a monetary reward for your assistance in the form of caps, guns, ammo, and supplies. Sound like a deal?” 

“Sounds fair to me.” 

“Good. Let’s get started.” 

*****

Jack laid in a straw bed in the Angels cave as Daniel fixed up a bullet hole on his shoulder. It was very clear he was not in a good mood because he was by no means being gentle with Jack’s injury. He winced as the Missionary dug the bullet out of his skin and poured vodka on it to clean it. 

Jack winced at the sting of the alcohol on his wound. “Watch it, Danny,” he snapped. 

“Hmph,” Daniel grunted, unamused. He started carefully threading the hole closed, pulling the wire extra tight as he went. Once he was finally done, he wiped away the last bit of blood and bandaged it up with sterile gauze. “There, all done,” he said. “The sooner you heal up, the sooner you can leave.” 

“I don’t get why you’re so fucking pissed off at me,” Jack said. “We won, didn’t we?” 

“That’s not the point,” Daniel said. “We didn’t need to fight in the first place.” 

“You say that as if the White Legs wouldn’t have followed us if we tried to leave Zion anyway,” Jack said. “Whatever, I don’t care what you think anyway, so long as I get paid.”

Daniel huffed angrily, stood up, and left the cave. Jack sighed and stared up at the ceiling. He wondered what he had gotten himself into. Had he stayed in the Mojave, he wouldn’t have had to deal with any of this, but it wasn’t like he could really stay any how. There wasn’t really anything left for him there, except for… 

“How are you feeling,” called a voice from beside him as a familiar shape took a seat next to his straw bed. Jack looked beside him to see Joshua beside him. He rolled his eyes and looked back up at the roof of the cave. 

“Here to bless me or something?” Jack asked. 

“No, just checking in,” Joshua said. “We owe you our victory, after all.” 

“What you owe me is the caps and supplies you promised.” 

“Of course, but later. I must ask, Jack. Are you running away from something? It seems to me that you might be.” 

“That ain’t any of your business,” Jack said through gritted teeth. 

“We’re all running from something,” Joshua said. “It’s just different for each one of us. I ran, you know that.” 

“Yeah but the difference between me and you is I don’t care,” Jack said as he sat up on his elbows to look at the Missionary, angrily pointing a finger at him. “Stop poking your little mummy nose into other people’s business. I didn’t ask to be psychoanalyzed or counseled, alright? You don’t gotta know what I’m running from, if anything at all.” Suddenly he felt a pang of pain in his shoulder and shifted back into a lying position with a grunt. 

“You should be careful,” Joshua told him. “Even with stimpaks and Daniel’s excellent medical assistance you will need time to rest.” 

“I know,” Jack sighed. 

“Whatever it is you are running from,” Joshua said. “You know you can’t run away from it forever. It will catch up to you eventually, and you will pay the price.” 

“Sure, thanks, whatever,” Jack said with an eye roll. “Can you go now? I’m tired.” 

“Of course. Sleep well, Jack.” 

Joshua stood up and left Jack to sleep, but he didn’t fall asleep right away. He thought about what Joshua said. He was right of course, he couldn’t run forever. Eventually he would run out of length to run and places to hide and everything will catch up to him. Either that or he might end up dead in a ditch somewhere before that happens. With his luck, it might be the latter. Even still though, it’s not like he could go back after what he pulled. He’d be in big trouble if he ever saw the Courier again. There wasn’t really a way for him to make amends for leaving like he did, but it’s not like he wanted to go back. He had to leave, it was better this way. 

Eventually, Jack fell asleep, lost in his own thoughts, and woke up the next morning to leave that Canyon and the Mojave behind for good. 

*****

**SIX YEARS LATER (2287)**

The Commonwealth was a new place to Jack. He marked his map as he went, adding new places, knowing full well that the map might be useless in a year or even a few months. He never stayed in one place for long, that was always true for him. The way he saw it, he wasn’t too eager to change that. Keep moving, find new suckers to scam out of their caps and places to stock up on Jet, move on when you get tired of the place and the people. Same shit, different day. 

As he walked through the ruins of a place once known as Concord, he hears what sounded like the fire of laser rifles, but stronger and slower. He passed by a street that let him see an old pre-war building with a man shooting a laser weapon from the top window at a gang of raiders in the street below. When he realized what was happening, he booked it and tried to distance himself as far as he could from them. Not his problem, that guy with the weird laser rifle will have to handle the situation on his own. He kept going, traveling through wilderness and encountering the occasional pre-war ruin which he scavenged for any useful supplies that he could possibly sell at the next settlement he happened upon, as well as looking for medical supplies and maybe the odd unused Jet inhaler. Eventually he came across an old police station besieged by a hoard of ghouls. More men fighting with laser rifles shot them down, though one of them looked like a woman. One of the men wore full power armor emblazoned with an insignia of a sword and gears surrounded by a wreath of leaves. He recognized it as the Brotherhood of Steel’s symbol, but he didn’t know much about them besides they lived in a vault in an old military base where he came from. He didn’t know that any of them had made it this far East from California. 

He considered his options for a moment as a power armor clad man plowed through the ghouls that were attacking them. This wasn’t necessarily his problem and he didn’t give two shits about what the Brotherhood stood for, but he knew they had a lot of resources to draw from. Even this far away from the original Chapter, they must have a lot to work with and that probably means caps and equipment that he can sell, as well as food and clean water. It might be a bigger pay off to help them than let them be. Against his better judgement and his general policy of “not me, not my problem”, he headed towards the Police Station, pistol in hand, and started shooting the ghouls. Each got na bullet to the head for an instant kill. Before they knew it, between him and the other two who weren’t wounded, the ghouls were gone. When the battle ended, the one in power armor took off his helmet and underneath was a man with a stubbly, square jaw, dark brown eyes and matching hair. A scar went through his right eyebrow and over his right cheek, a sign of a past battle. 

Jack cocked an eyebrow at him with a smirk. He wasn’t too bad looking. 

“I take it you heard our distress call over the radio,” the man said. 

“Ah, no,” Jack said. “I just noticed you guys in trouble and… thought I’d lend a hand.” 

“Well, I appreciate your assistance. Paladin Danse, Brotherhood of Steel. This is Scribe Haylen and Knight Rhys.” 

“I’m Jack Clawface. Nice to meet ya.” 

“Strange name,” the Paladin said. “Were you born with it?”

“Nah, I gave it to myself,” Jack said and gestured to the scars that ran across his lips from his right nostril to the left side of his jaw. “I guess you can tell why.” 

“How did you get it?”

“Run in with a Deathclaw,” Jack bragged. “But I made it out alive. Too tough to get done in by something like that.” 

“Impressive,” the Paladin said, cocking an eyebrow. “If you’re interested, we could always use a hand around the station. We came to the Commonwealth in search of another party that came before us looking for pre-war technology and we haven’t had any luck. We can make it worth your while, and you might even be able to join, if you perform well enough.” 

“Sure,” Jack said. “I wouldn’t mind giving it a shot.” 

“Outstanding. Scribe Haylen, get Rhys into the station for medical treatment. I’ll brief our new friend here once we’re all inside.”

“Yes, sir,” said the scribe as she left Rhys from the floor and helped him walk by supporting him with his arm over her shoulder. 

“If you’ll come inside, I can debrief you on our next mission and you can resupply,” Danse told him as he followed the others inside. 

Jack smirked at him as he walked inside. This was gonna be like taking candy from a bunch of babies.


	2. The Brotherhood of Steel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack meets the Sole Survivor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize in advanced if my writing is a little long winded. I've been trying to be more descriptive and use less time breaks so that my writing doesn't seem as choppy.

It had been a few weeks. Jack stayed at the police station after the initial job, despite the payout being less than desirable. He doesn’t even use laser weapons. Even still, he thought he might be able to milk this a little longer, play the whole Brotherhood thing up a bit and swindle them out of their caps and supplies. The hard tack and dried meat rations they served him weren’t that palatable but at least he had a regular source of clean water. He was physically capable enough to make up for Rhys as he recovered when the need arose. Over time it seemed like Danse and Haylen seemed to appreciate having him around more and more, and Jack wasn’t opposed to the praise he got from a job well done after a mission. What he didn’t get was Rhys. He was cold and avoidant, hardly speaking to Jack unless issuing him more bitch work. Jack fancied himself a decent actor but there was a good possibility he saw through Jack’s whole charade. That would not be good for business if it were the case. Even more than that, he swears he catches the Knight staring at him from time to time. Jack says nothing in most cases, but today, he decided to breach the silence. 

“Ok, I’ll bite,” Jack said, calling over to Rhys where he sat. “What’s your problem with me?” 

“My problem?” the Knight said. “Why wouldn’t I have a problem? A random stranger stumbles on our little outfit here and decides to help out of the goodness of his heart, then he decides to join up with a cause he knows nothing about? I don’t believe that for a second.” 

“Aw, come one, man, can’t you have a little faith in me?” 

“I will when you prove your dedication to the Brotherhood. Until then, don’t think I’m not watching you like a hawk.” Rhys folded his arms confidently, sure that he made his stance clear. 

Jack rolled his eyes. “C’mon, I’ve already entrenched myself in ferals and mutants just to retrieve shit for you guys and ‘exterminate abominations’. What about that doesn’t sound like dedication?”

“It’s not just about the artifact retrieval and the extermination missions,” Rhys said. “There’s more to being in the Brotherhood than that.” 

“The thing about that is, I don’t really have anyone to explain it to me. Danse is always busy doing Paladin stuff, Haylen has to catalogue the artifacts I bring back, but you-” Jack pointed at the Knight. “You’ve just been laying around and you refuse to even look at me.” 

“I was injured in my last battle, alright?” Rhys said indignantly. “I haven’t been able to do anything because I have stitches in my chest and Haylen won’t let me hear the end of if I busted them open again.” 

“You could have at least given me a little Brotherhood 101 lesson while you were healing up,” Jack said with a smirk. 

“That’s not my job.” Rhys stood up and stormed out of the room. Jack laughed to himself quietly at him. He was so easy to rile up. He wondered when was the last time the Knight got laid. He could definitely use it. 

“Hello?” A voice called from the entrance as the door to the police station creaked up. Jack pointed his pistol at the door and waited for the intruder to come inside. He came up the steps and threw his hands in the air when he saw Jack pointing a gun at his face. He was tall and built, with tanned skin and black hair, a grey streak running from his temple. A scar went through his right eyebrow, and some freckles dotted his face. He wore one of those blue Vault suits under a set of worn leather armor and had this look on his face like he had no idea where he was or what was going on at any given moment. 

“Listen, I don’t want any trouble,” he said. 

“State your business, civilian.” There was a distinct thumping of power armor boots on the ground as Danse came into the room, laser rifle in hand.

“Civilian?” The man looked confused. “I was in the army, I’m not- whatever. Look, I just heard your distress call over the radio. I came to offer my help if you still need it.”

“No offense, man, but I think we have ourselves handled here,” Jack said. 

“Hold on a second, Jack,” Danse said. “What do you think you can offer us in the way of assistance?” 

The man shrugged. “I’m pretty good with a pistol,” he said. “I don’t know if you can use an extra gun or something, but if you do I wouldn’t mind sticking around for a while in exchange for some food or money- whatever it is you people here use as money anyway. Was it bottle caps?” 

“Danse, are you seriously gonna let this guy stick around?” Jack said. “He looks like he’s never held a gun in his life.” 

Danse lowered his rifle. “What’s your name?” he asked the man. 

“Mateo Green,” he answered. 

“Alright, Mateo, if you think you can offer us valuable services, you can stay,” Danse said. “I’ll have Jack here set up an extra cot for you, and then the two of us can have a conversation about what you can offer to the team.” 

Mateo lowered his hands and smiled in relief. “Thanks, I really appreciate this,” he said. 

Jack lowered his pistol with a scoff. The guy couldn’t be what, younger than 30? Jack was only 33 but still, Mateo looked naive as all hell. Vault dwellers normally were, having been sheltered in underground bunkers for most of their life. That is, if they survive the initial experiments at all. He guessed Mateo wouldn’t really last a week, but at least he may have someone else to take on Rhys’ dirty wok instead of him. 

A few weeks passed, and Mateo surpassed everyone’s expectations. He was surprisingly intelligent and his skills with a pistol far surpassed even Jack’s own. Where Jack had expected Mateo to take on half the missions he was sent out on, he was actually sent out with him so that they could cover each other’s back, which he didn’t really mind. Even if he was a little jealous of how good he was in a fight, having someone else to back you up wasn’t an unwelcome thought. He had saved Jack’s ass more than a few times and he didn’t mind that. 

Mateo and Jack became sort of friends after a while. Maybe not too terribly close- Jack typically avoided close relationships- but it was nice to not be the only outsider looking in, in regards to all this Brotherhood nonsense. Even still, Mateo seemed to take to the regimented and strict military structure of the Brotherhood a lot easier than Jack did, which made him wonder what life in the Vault was like for him. He had always seen it as this idealistic “utopia” where nothing wrong ever happened and there was never any need for a military to begin with, but what Mateo informed him about his stay in the Vault proved him wrong. 

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Jacksaid around a mouthful of hardtack as he and Mateo ate their rations next to each other. He swallowed and added, “What was life like in your Vault? Was it easy?”

“Hmph, that’s a good question,” Mateo said as he took a sip of his water. “I was actually… cryogenically frozen for 200 years.” 

“That’s bullshit,” Jack jeered with a laugh. “You expect me to actually believe that?” 

“No, it’s true,” Mateo told him. “I was a soldier during the war, though unwillingly. We had this thing called the draft where you were forced to join the military, and I thought about draft dodging but my wife, uh… She was afraid I would get caught, so I went anyway. I was stationed in Anchorage and…. Broke my knee… in an avalanche, and they sent me home after that to recover. Because of our ‘service to our country’-” he said this with air quotes - “My family and I were slotted for a place in the local Vault, Vault one-eleven. Unbeknownst to me, it was an experiment. They put us in what we were told were ‘decontamination pods’ and then… froze us.” 

“Shit,” Jack said. “I’ve seen my share of shitty vault experiments but that’s probably the wildest I’ve ever heard of.” 

“There were more experiments?”

“Yeah, hardly any of them _weren’t_ some inhumane experiment that used people as test subjects,” Jack told him.

“Huh,” Mateo said with a resigned tone. “I thought we were the only ones.” 

“Don’t get too choked up about it, man,” Jack said. “Shit happens. I’m sure you know that this world ain’t anywhere close to perfect. You learn to move on and live with it.” 

“Hm.” Mateo sat silently for a moment, then stood. “I gotta take a leak,” he said, then got up and walked away. 

Jack rolled his eyes. Some people really just can’t handle life in the real world.


	3. Brotherhood Material

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Danse talk about the Brotherhood and what it means.

Mateo didn’t stay for long after that. After getting some caps out of Danse and packing up a few rations, he left for a place he called “Diamond City”. Danse of course offered him the title of Initiate, same as he did Jack, but he didn’t take it. “I’ve done enough time in the military,” he explained. “I’m not too eager to do more than I have to.” Danse was disappointed, but it didn’t bother Jack much. Sure the guy was good company, and he was a god shot, but he wasn’t too attached. He was just another guy trying to survive, like everyone else. Things were quieter around the Police Station, though. Haylen and Danse were always busy, and Rhys still refused to talk to him. It was starting to get unbearable. He tried to busy himself, but you can only field strip a pistol so many times before it got boring. 

Jack got up from where he sat and made his way to the garage, climbing down the stairs where he found the door open and Danse inside, outside of his power armor with his jump suit pulled down to his waist, sleeves tied together around it. He was working on his power armor, tightening joints and adjusting servos. Moving this and polishing that. This was probably the first time Jack has seen him outside of his armor without him being asleep. It was… interesting to see him work. He was well built, muscular and fit in every sense of the word, and it was hard not to stare. 

Jack leaned against the door frame, and finally piped up. “Working hard?”

Danse stopped what he was doing and gave Jack a cursory glance over his shoulder, then went back to twisting a wrench on a bolt in one of the legs of his armor. “Yes,” he said. “You’re welcome to lend me a hand, if you’d like.” 

“Nah, I don’t know much ‘bout power armor,” Jack said. He hopped down the few concrete steps beneath the door and sauntered into the garage, where he hoisted himself up onto the work bench and sat there, watching him work. “I actually haven’t used it before. Always thought it was… I don’t know, too big and clumsy.” 

“There’s… a nuance to it,” Danse said. “It makes stealth difficult for sure, but often times, depending on who or what you’re dealing with, the advantages often outweigh the drawbacks.” He dropped the wrench on the ground with a soft clank and stood up straight. Taking a rag he had tucked into his jumpsuit, he used it to wipe his hands of grease and dirt. “Plus it can be a lot of fun plowing into people,” he added with a very slight grin. “Sometimes the strength it gives you is… a little intoxicating.” 

“Intoxicating, huh?” Jack said with a little grin. “Guess I gotta try it some time.” 

“I can give you a crash course, if you’re interested,” Danse said. 

“Maybe later.” 

Danse gave a little “hmph” before bending down to pick up his wrench. He walked over to the work bench and placed it there, then crossed his arms and leaned against it. “Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?” he said. 

Jack shrugged. “Sure.” 

“Why are you here?” Danse asked. 

“I dunno, I just kinda wanted to chat,” Jack told him. “It gets so quiet up stares, I was getting bored.” 

“I don’t mean in the garage,” Danse said. “I mean here, at the Police Station. I don’t mean to offend but… you don’t really seem like... Brotherhood material.” 

Jack thought for a moment. He didn’t really know, if he was honest. It started out as a purely selfish desire to swindle them out of caps and supplies and then leave once he bleed everything he could out of them, but if that was all he could have left weeks ago. Yet, he was still here. 

“What makes you ‘Brotherhood material’?” Jack asked, dodging the question. 

“Brotherhood material is…” Danse started, taking a moment to think. “Someone who’s loyal to his comrades and willing to devote himself to a cause.”

“What cause is that?” Jack asked. 

“Didn’t Haylen or Rhys already tell you?” Danse asked him in turn. 

“Not really. They’re both always busy doing scribe and knight stuff.” 

Danse huffed. “It’s to save humanity from itself,” he said. “We want to stop something on the scale of the Great War from ever happening again, but part of that is finding a community within the Brotherhood that you can trust.” 

“People you can trust, huh?” Jack said with a grin. “Do you trust me?”

“I think I’m starting to,” Danse said with a small smile. “But you still got a long way to go before you can _really_ prove yourself, initiate.” 

“So you guys keep telling me.” Jack rolled his eyes. 

“Just keep working hard, you’ll get there,” Danse said as he patted Jack on the shoulder. He straightened and grabbed his wrench again, going back over to his armor and kneeling to work on calibrating the leg servos some more. 

Something about him… made Jack _want_ to work hard. “Devotion” hadn’t previously been a word in his vocabulary. He didn’t care about anyone but number one, or at least he tried to tell himself that. He cared about people in the past- still does- and it never ended well. It was hard to care when you always just mess things up. And yet, Danse made him want to care. All three of them did, even Rhys. As much as he would hate to admit it out loud to anyone, he was.... starting to feel like he belonged. And it scared him.


	4. The Prydwen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Danse take a Vertibird ride to the Prydwen.

It wasn’t hard to miss the sound of the Prydwen flying over head and calling out to all the Commonwealth, and it wasn’t long before the Police Station was filled with more power armor clad knights and field scribes. The noise and bustling nature of all the new people didn't really suit Jack. They all greeted him politely enough, calling him Initiate and congratulating him on Danse’s high praise. It was unbearable. When he heard that he and Danse were going to take a Vertibird ride to the Prydwen, he was more than happy to accept the orders. The ride was exhilarating, nothing like he had ever felt before. Being lifted up into the air and flying over Boston ruins, the wind whipping his blonde hair away from his face, it was incredible. He tried hard, but he was unable to keep an amazed smile off of his face as he watched the city move beneath his feet. 

Danse watched him as Jack looked out of the open door of the Vertibird, feeling pride in his Initiate. For a while, he was unsure if his choice was well founded. He didn’t know if Jack would really prove to be what the Brotherhood was looking for, but now he could tell he made a good move. It was satisfying to watch Jack grow, even if he had only known the man for a few weeks. 

Jack looked back at Danse from the door of the bird and they made eye contact for a moment before Danse looked away. It was hard to talk over the sound of the engine and the whirling blades, but he tried his best to shout his words to Jack. 

“It’s thrilling isn’t it?” he asked. “Your first ride is always something you remember.” 

“Yeah,” Jack shouted back. “Yeah, it is.” 

Soon they were docked on the Prydwen, a large, impressive metal warship. Jack had seen a lot of shit in his life- mutants, robots, monsters- but this was unlike anything he had ever experienced. A flying warship? If you had told him about it a few weeks ago, he wouldn’t have believed you. He and Danse were debriefed by Lancer-Captain Kells on the flight deck, then they headed inside so that they could meet with the Elder on the comment deck. They climbed the steps, greeted by the knight guarding the door with an “Ad Victoriam, Paladin”, mostly directed at Danse, and went inside. Jack followed Danse passed a later to the Command deck. Scribes and Knights stood stiffly on either side of the windowed room, lining the walls. Jack fell in behind one of them, mimicking their stand, trying to blend in. 

“Brothers and Sisters, the road behind us has been long and fraught with difficulty,” the Elder started. He went on through a long, what seemed like a pre-prepared speech after that. Jack didn’t pay attention to most of it, gleaning basically that they were in the Commonwealth to destroy the Institute and all synth, all stuff he already knew. At the end he gave an, “Ad Victoriam!” and the other soldiers mirrored him, all except for Jack, who was unaware that that was the procedure. They were all dismissed and filed out of the room, and Danse gestured to Jack to move forward and greet the Elder. 

When the Elder caught sight of him, he gave Jack a once over, then said, “So you’re the Initiate Danse wrote about in his reports. Jack… Clawface, was it?” 

“Yes, sir,” Jack said. He couldn’t put a finger on it, but there was something about this man that genuinely unsettled him. Even though he could tell he was only 20 or so years old, he was tall and broad, and his furrowed brow, scars, and bearded face commanded attention and a certain gut wrenching feeling. It wasn’t respect. Jack knew what respect felt like. He respected Danse, but this was not the same feeling. No, this was something different. This… was fear. 

“Interesting name,” the Elder said. “I’m sure Danse has already told you, but I am Elder Maxson, Ultimate Commander of the East Coast Chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel. I have read his reports, and he seems very impressed with your abilities. Honestly, I have to commend you if you have earned such praise from one of our foremost superior officers, so in honor of your service, I have decided to promote you to Knight.”

Jack was surprised at this. The Brotherhood’s standards seemed high, and he had always gotten the impression- mostly from Rhys- that it would take a lot more work for him to actually become anything higher than a Initiate. He didn’t think this man, whom he’d only just met, would see fit to actually promote him. 

“Thank you, sir,” Jack said. “I’m honored.” 

“You should be,” the Elder said. “Wear the title with pride, Knight, but don’t think things are going to get easier from here just because you got promoted. As a matter of fact, I have an assignment lined up for both you and Danse to take on.” 

The Elder went on to detail the option to take Fort Strong from the super mutants that occupied it in order to secure the mini nuke hoard stashed in the basement of the building. Afterwards, he dismissed them both in order to prepare for the mission. Jack followed Danse out of the Command deck and to the latter, which he climbed down. Jack was unsure how he was really able to do that in a full suit of power armor, but he just shrugged and followed him down. Once down there, Danse turned to Jack. 

“What do you think?” he asked. 

“About what?” Jack asked. “Elder Maxson?” 

“Well, yes, but the Prydwen as well.” 

“It’s impressive,” Jack said. “I’d never really seen anything like it before.” 

“Most people haven’t,” Danse said. “We’re lucky to have her, really. A great tactical advantage over all our enemies in the Commonwealth who have to fight on foot.” 

“It’s kinda hard to get your footing. Sort of like being on a boat.” 

“You get used to after a while, and it becomes as natural as walking on the ground below.” 

There was creaking in the metal frame work of the ship and Jack looked at the steel ceiling over head. 

“You get used to that, too,” Danse said. “I want you to go get to know all of the officers on the deck. Introduce yourself and make sure to take the medical exam, then report back to me.” 

“Yes, sir,” Jack said as the Paladin walked away. He watched the man thump off in his power armor and sighed to himself. Jesus Christ, what had he gotten himself into? This was a lot more than he bargained for when he decided to stay at the Police Station, and he couldn’t really imagine it ending very well. He had half a mind to pack his things up and leave as soon as he got the chance. Lord knows he wasn’t really Brotherhood material, who was he fooling? He sighed and pushed forward. 

_Guess I’ll just have to wing it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I'm sorry for skipping most of Maxson's dumb ass speech but i did it because A.) i hate him, and B.) I'm sure if you're reading this you've already played that part of the game before. if not and you're just dying to know what he says, you can find it on his wiki page. I also tried not to copy too much dialogue from the actual game, mostly because I don't remember it and I do not have the patience to look it up and copy it down so I improvised. 
> 
> I'm sure you're bored with me basically recounting the events of the game and honestly writing down this part is fucking boring as hell for me too, but just bare with me. we'll get to the interesting bit eventually.


	5. Personal Errands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mateo offers Jack a job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the fucking shitty title, i'm really not that creative.

The mission to fort strong was uneventful. Sure the Behemoth was a surprise, but it went down pretty easily with the help of the minigun on the Vertibird. After that it was just killing super mutants and plundering an old pre war building, nothing he wasn’t used to after hanging around the Police Station for a month. After getting debriefed by the Elder, Jack and Danse’s next mission was to investigate the Institute, find a way in or a weakness to be exploited. Jack wasn’t a detective, of course. He didn’t know anything about the Institute and he didn’t even know where to start, but he had an idea. From his few trips to Diamond City to buy supplies, he had heard from the residents inside about a synth detective that lived there. Either he would help Jack in his search, or he could use the synth to find a way in. 

The city was bustling as usual, steam rising from Power Noodles in the center of the market as usual. Merchants peddling their wares and annoying their patrons. Jack stopped by Arturo’s, and Danse waited nearby, stopping at the power armor station by Mhyrna’s to do some routine maintenance. Jack was a regular there at this point, often coming by to buy more 9mm ammunition since this was one of the few places he could find it. Except this time, he wasn’t there for ammo, he was looking for information. 

“Hey, Arturo,” Jack said, greeting him with a pleasant smile. 

“Well if it isn’t my favorite customer,” Arturo said. “Here to clean out my stock of 9mm again?” 

“No, actually I’m looking for something else,” Jack said. “I need some information. I’m looking for a detective, I think his name was Valentine.”

Arturo’s expression turned cold and nervous. “Look Jack, you know I appreciate your patronage, but that’s not something I’m really comfortable getting involved in,” Arturo said. “People don’t really like going to that part of town.” 

Jack flashed him his award winning grin, showing off his sharp canines. “Aw, c’mon, Arturo,” he said. “You’re a smart man. Surely you know _something_.”

Arturo cleared his throat, seeming to relent in the face of Jack’s flattery. “Well, when you put it that way,” he said. “He’s in the back alley behind this shop. Look for the neon signs. You can’t miss it.” 

“Thanks, Aturo,” Jack said. “And I’ll go ahead and grab some 9mm while I’m here, for your trouble.” 

After he got what he needed from Arturo, he went over to Danse where he was working on his armor. He turned from his work and asked, “Did you find what you needed?”

“Yeah, but I gotta do something really quick,” Jack said. “Wait here for a second.” 

“Affirmative.” Danse went back to work as Jack went about finding Valentine. He came into the back alley and was immediately greeted by bright pink neon signs saying “DETECTIVE” and “VALENTINE’S DETECTIVE AGENCY”. As he got closer to the door, a man came out of it and Jack recognized him as Mateo. 

“Hey, Jack,” he said, slapping on a fake smile. “Fancy meeting you here. I was actually just about to go find you.” 

“That’s funny, I was actually looking for this Valentine guy, you seen him?” Jack asked. 

Mateo’s face faltered slightly. “Yeah, I was talking to him just now,” he said, then, in an attempt to change the subject, added, “Listen, before you go in, can I ask you favor?”

Jack cocked an eyebrow, suspicious of Mateo’s request. “Depends on how many caps you’re willing to pay me,” he said. 

“Alright fine, I’ll pay, just listen. I need you to help me hunt down a courser.” 

“Courser? You mean like those Institute bounty hunters, right?” Jack said. “I haven’t heard much about them, but I know they’re bad news, Mat. Are you sure that’s a good idea?"

“Yes, I’m sure. I know they’re trouble, but that’s why I’m asking you. You’re the best shot out of anyone I’ve ever met out here,” Mateo said. He glanced around for a moment, then continued in a hushed voice. “And I don’t exactly have a lot of people I can trust.” 

“Alright, fine,” Jack said. “Assuming I even agreed to go on this suicide mission with you, Mateo, what could you possibly need a courser for?” 

“He has something I need to find my son,” Mateo told him. “The Institute took him, and I need to get it from that courser so I can get in.” 

Jack squinted at him. What are the odds that he would be after the same thing as Jack, and just so happen to have a better lead than him right when he needed it? It seemed a little too good to be true. Of course, Jack would probably take up his offer, because he needed it just as badly as Mateo did, but something told him he couldn’t trust him. 

“Fine, I’ll go, but I want 200 caps up front, and I want whatever information you can get out of this courser as soon as you get it,” 

“What? Why?”

“That’s not really any of your business, alright? Do you want my help or not?”

Mateo looked him up and down before sighing. “Fine, I’ll get a copy of whatever I can find to you as soon as I get it,” Mateo said. 

“Looks like we got ourselves a deal, Green,” Jack said as he held out his hand to the man. Mateo shook it, then asked Jack:

“You’re not gonna bring Danse with you, will you?” 

“Why, would you have a problem with that?” Jack asked back. “He’s a good shot and a great tactician, plus that power armor makes him almost unstoppable. Wouldn’t he be useful in the fight?” 

“I don’t trust him,” Mateo said. “I don’t really trust the Brotherhood, either.” 

“I’m Brotherhood,” Jack said. “Does that mean you don’t trust me either?” 

“You’re not like them, I know you’re not. You’re selfish and all you care about is Jet and caps, I can’t really see you buying into their garbage,” Mateo said. “So if you’re still with them, I know you at least don’t trust them much more than I do, which means I can trust you to go behind their backs for me.” 

“You’ll have to give me an extra 50 caps for that.” 

“Ugh, fine, can we just get going already?”

“Money first,” Jack said, holding out his hand. 

Mate dug out 250 caps and tossed them to Jack. Jack pocketed the caps and nodded to Mateo. “Where should we meet up?”

“You know the CIT ruins?”

“Yeah.” 

“Meet me there tonight at twelve.” 

“It’s a deal.” 

Mateo sauntered away, trench coat swaying behind him as he walked. A dog that had been waiting for him at the end of the alley followed him as he walked away and out of sight. Jack huffed a sigh. Now he just had to ditch his CO. He came out of the alley to find Danse leaning against his power armor as it stood in the frame, waiting for Jack to finish his business as the residents of Diamond City buzzed about. He stood up straight when he saw Jack approached. 

“You finished with your business?” he asked. 

“Yeah, listen,” Jack started. “Why don’t you head back to the Prydwen. I have… a personal errand I have to run.” 

“Need I remind you that we’re technically out on a mission right now?” Danse said as he crossed his arms sternly. “Should the Institute not be our top priority?” 

“It’s just one thing, it’ll take like, a day max.”

Danse sighed and relented. “Fine. I will meet you back at the Prydwen when you’re finished. Do not take longer than absolutely necessary and do not to take any course of action that could reflect badly on the Brotherhood. Is that understood, Knight?”

“Yes, sir.” 

“Good. Dismissed.” 

Jack turned on his heels and headed towards the exit, sighing in relief at finally not having Danse looming over him to watch his every move. He didn’t need any ammo or stimpaks, and is armor was sufficient, so he didn’t really need to do much preparation. So he decided he would find some hole to crawl in to smoke while he waited for midnight to approach. It would be nice to finally have a cigarette without having to hear another Codex lecture from Danse. The man was intelligent and tactful, excellent in a fight, and could even crack a decent joke occasionally, but god, he needed to lighten up.


	6. Cracked Ribs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack makes it out of Greentek genetics by the skin of his teeth and Danse is a little concerned for his subordinate.

It was hard not to worry about the Knight while he wasn’t under Danse’s careful watch. He had no illusions about Jack’s skill in battle and his ability to fend off enemies. He was, however, a big mouthed, hot headed, arrogant rookie, and there wasn’t a shortage of worst case scenarios running through Danse’s mind as Jack went out on his “personal errand”, as he called it. (Though Danse guessed he might just be holed up in a shack somewhere smoking and doing Jet.) If something were to happen to him- if he was injured, or if he was killed- that was on Danse’s shoulders. Likewise, it would be seen as his responsibility if he embarrassed the Brotherhood or went against their code of ethics. 

So, instead of letting himself get worked up about it, he nervously performed routine maintenance on his armor in its station on the Prydwen. He had already checked all the joints and screws and servos earlier in the day at the Diamond City market but there wasn’t really much else for him to do to distract himself while he waited. He went about greasing the servos (again) and checking the tightness of all the screws (again) and making sure there were no cracks in the armored plating (again), hoping that looking like he was keeping busy would keep the others from questioning where his charge had run off to. He jumped when he heard a voice behind him inquire of the knight’s whereabouts. 

“So, where’s your little buddy?” Proctor Ingram teased.

Danse relaxed when he realized who was behind him. “I dismissed him to run a, uh… ‘personal errand’,” he answered her. “He should be back later today.” 

“You worried about him?” Ingram asked. 

“Of course I am,” Danse answered. “He’s my subordinate. His well being is always my responsibility.” 

“Hm, sure,” Ingram said with a smirk that implied something a little more. “Anyway, when you’re done triple checking your power armor, I could use a little help at my workstation, if you’re available.” 

“Yes, of course.” 

“Great! I just need an extra hand with-” They were interrupted by Jack walking up to Danse and giving a salute. He looked ragged, flight suit torn and hair tangled and matted with blood. He huffed and panted as he said, “Reporting for duty, sir.”

“Jesus, Jack, what happened to you?” Danse asked. “You look like hell.” 

“Just… ran into some trouble,” Jack answered. “I’m fine.” 

“Clearly, you’re not,” Danse said. “You need to get to the infirmary right away.” 

“I said I’m fine.” 

“I’m taking you to Knight Captain Cade, that’s an order, Knight.” Jack relented his protests as Danse pulled Jack's arm over his shoulders and helped him limp down the hall to the Captain’s office. He sat the knight down on the gurney and let the Knight Captain pull the flight suit off of him and tend to his wounds. He patched up all the cuts and abrasions, then administered a stimpak after examining the Knight’s ribs.

“He has a couple cracked ribs,” Cade said as he draped his stethoscope over his shoulders. “Looks like he’s gonna need a couple days rest before he can go out in the field again.” The Captain turned to Jack and asked, “What did you run into that put you in such bad shape?”

“Gunners,” Jack said, then elaborated. “Mercenaries. Guess I… stepped into a bad part of town and they didn’t like that.”

“Well, at least cracked ribs are the worst you walked away with,” Cade said. “You’ll need to stay in bed as much as possible for the next few days, and try not to sleep on your sides. Whenever you’re ready, you can go to your bunk in the barracks to get some rest.” 

“Thank you, sir,” Jack said, then sighed, resting his head against the back of the gurney. 

“You really should be more careful, Jack,” Danse said. “I don’t doubt your ability, but you can’t always be so reckless.” 

“I was careful, ok?” Jack said. “I knew what I was getting into, I guess I just underestimated… how well I could handle it.” 

“If I had been there, this wouldn’t have happened,” Danse sighed.

Jack shook his head with a chuckle, “Don’t do that, Danse. My stupid mistakes aren’t your fault, alright?” 

“I’m your commanding officer, you’re my responsibility, Jack,” Danse said. “I can’t help but feel at least a little at fault for this.” 

“Well, if it’s any consolation,” Jack said with a sigh. “I don’t blame you for it. I take full responsibility.” 

Danse smiled a little bit at that, looked away to hide his face before steeling himself and saying, “If you’re ready, I’ll help you to your bunk.”

“Yeah.” 

Danse helped him off the gurney and down the hall to the barracks. He was only wearing an undershirt and shorts now, so Danse was painfully aware how exposed Jack was and tried to keep his eyes off of him- out of respect for his privacy, of course. Luckily, Jack’s bunk on the Prydwen was on the bottom of the frame, so he didn’t have to climb up into bed. Once he was laying down- on his back with an extra pillow volunteered to him by one of his fellow knights- he relaxed his head into the pillow, closing his eyes with a sigh. He hadn’t realized how exhausted he was. Fighting a whole battalion of mercenaries really takes it out of you. 

“Thank you, Paladin,” Jack said. 

“Of course,” Danse said with a nod. “If you don’t need anything else, Knight, I’ll leave you to rest.” 

“Yeah, go ahead.” 

Danse turned to leave, making his way back to the power armor bay. He was stopped by Ingram, who inquired of the Knight’s well being. 

“So, how’s be doing?” 

“A few cracked ribs,” Danse told her. “But he’ll be fine after resting for a few days.” 

“You don’t seem to be reassured by that,” Ingram said. “Are _you _doing alright?” “Yes, I’m fine. Just… concerned for him. I haven’t met a man more reckless since… He’s just a very careless person, and I’m worried it might get him killed someday, or worse.” “Well, with you around, I think he’ll be alright. I don’t know a better Paladin than you to look after him.” “Thank you, Proctor. Now, do you still need assistance?” “Nah, I got it covered,” Ingram told him. “You can go ahead and turn in for the night.” “I’ll see you in the morning then,” Danse said. Ingram nodded at him as she went about her work and Danse left the power armor bay, heading towards his personal quarters. It still felt strange to him to be sleeping in his own room at times. Of course, he had been a Paladin for a few years, so it was something he was used to by now, but after sharing barracks with his fellow Knights for so many years, it felt strange to be isolated like this. Even after being promoted, he spent many nights in his room with Cutler by his side. He couldn’t help but miss- He pushed the thought from his mind as he unlocked the door and pushed it open, closing it firmly behind him. Cutler was dead, and the nature of their relationship… wasn’t exactly professional or accepted among their peers. He didn’t think about it too much, often preferring to pretend it didn’t happen. He felt guilty about that, wishing he could remember their time together fondly, wishing there wasn't an added regret of not being able to save him, but sometimes it was better to forget. Danse undressed, pulling off his boots, gloves, and flight suit, leaving only his shorts and under shirt. The room was cold, as it often was. They really didn’t spare any expense to heat the living quarters on the Prydwen, seeing as how energy was at a premium in this world, but he was used to it. He could handle the cold. It was the silence he wasn’t fond of. There was of course the humming of the ship’s engines, but the droning was constant so it was like it wasn’t there. It made the relative silence more lonely, as the hum and buzz went on and on forever, seeming to never stop, making it feel like you were stuck in a time loop and that this moment of loneliness would last forever. There wasn’t really an easy way for him to remedy this. He had a radio a long time ago, but the annoying banter of Three Dog interrupting the music would just disrupt his attempts to sleep, and from what he heard of the radio here in the Commonwealth, that Travis kid wasn’t much better. Normally, it wasn’t too difficult to sleep. Most nights he would just bear through the silence, and try (emphasis on “try”) not to think about anything, laying perfectly still until the lack of motion eventually caused him to doze. Tonight, he didn’t feel much like he’d have an easy time sleeping. Now only in his boxers and undershirt, he lid underneath the covers on the bed and pulled them to his shoulders, turning over onto his side to face the wall. He tried to count the rivets in the seam of the wall, something he often practiced to try and make himself fall asleep, but his mind was elsewhere. He thought about his Knight resting in the barracks, both because he was concerned for his physical well being, and because he was a confusing individual. There he was, a stubborn, arrogant, sticky fingered Jet addict with a proclivity for lying and an obsession with caps, and yet he decided to join the Brotherhood, of all people. He didn’t have a lot going in his favor to convince the others of his skill or worthiness of his title besides Danse’s endorsement. Even despite all that, Danse saw something in him. Of course he could recognize a skilled combatant when he saw one, and Jack was clever and quick witted, both traits of an excellent tactician. Combined with his sharp eye and his marksmanship, by all means he would be a perfect soldier. Even beyond that, however, he could see a growing loyalty in him. Maybe not loyalty, but… fondness? Belonging? It was difficult to pin the right word, but he was noticing a change in the Knight. He hoped it was for the better, because, even despite his flaws, Danse was starting to enjoy his company more and more. Whether or not this was as a mentor or something else- he didn’t want to dwell on it. He just knew that under all the sarcasm and the tough guy facade, Jack was shaping out to be Brotherhood material after all.__


	7. The Molecular Level

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack's injuries are healed and Mateo visits the airport to bring him the Molecular Relay blue prints.

Jack healed up pretty well. It didn’t take long for him to be back on his feet, despite the many Scribes asserting that he needed more time to rest. He wouldn’t listen to them. He was getting cabin fever, being stuck in his bed all the time, and he had work to do. Even if he was successful in helping Mateo get that chip from the courser, he could still search elsewhere for clues about the Institute. Danse was not as eager for him to be out in the field, however. He trusted the knight’s judgement of his own physical limitations, but he was still concerned. He could see how Jack winced as he pulled on his fatigues, or whenever he bent over. Even if his injuries were relatively minor and he was mostly done healing, Danse wondered if going out on a mission this soon was a good idea. 

As they headed from the helipad to the entrance to the Airport, a night in power armor approached them.

“Sir,” he said, giving the Paladin a salute. “There is a civilian waiting for Knight Clawface at the entrance. Says his name is Mateo and he had a package for him.” 

“Let him in, he’s a friend,” Jack said. “And the package he has is an important part of my mission.” 

The Knight deferred to Danse, looking to him for approval. Danse nodded. “You heard the man,” he said. “Let him in.” 

“Yes, sir.” The Knight said before stomping off. 

Jack made his way to the entrance, not taking the time to wait for Danse. He saw Mateo standing there just inside the entryway, dressed in the same black trench coat as before. He waited for Jack with his hands stuffed in his pockets and smiled when the Knight approached him. 

“It’s good to see you’ve made a full recovery,” Mateo said. “After I had to drag your sorry ass all the way to the airport from Greentech.” 

Jack rolled his eyes. “Full recovery is a word for it,” Jack said. “But I’m glad to be on my feet after being stuck on that flying hunk of metal for five days. Do you have the information you promised?”

“Yup.” Mateo pulled a folder out of his coat and held it out to him. Jack reached for it, but Mateo pulled it away before he could get a good grip on it. 

“I’m only giving this to you because I _trust_ you, Jack,” Mateo said. “Make sure this doesn’t get used by the wrong people. Ok?”

“Yeah, of course,” Jack said. He felt like his definition of the “wrong people” was different from Mateo’s, but he didn’t need to know that. He took the folder from Mateo. “Thanks.” 

Mateo checked his Pip-Boy. “I have to be going,” Mateo said. “Business to take care of. I’ll see you around?”

“Yeah.” 

And Mateo left. Danse came up behind Jack as he turned away from the entrance. 

“What did he bring for you?” Danse asked. “Documents for Proctor Quinlin?”

“Nope,” Jack said with a grin as he held the folder up for Danse to see. “Gave me some very important information regarding the Institute.” 

“Outstanding!” Danse said with a grin. “Let’s get this to the Elder right away.” 

The papers inside the folder detailed a schematic, ridden with scrawling handwriting that, according to Ingram, was barely legible but still ingenious. It was the plan for a teleportation machine called a Molecular Relay that could tap into the frequency of the classical music station and teleport you to the Institute itself. This was certainly a huge break for them, and the Elder was immensely pleased, but there was still the matter of finding the materials- an errand that Jack and his commanding officer were inevitably tasked with. Jack didn’t really mind- anything to get away from the airport for a bit. Maybe he’d even be able to escape Danse for a reprieve to smoke a cigarette for once. Ingram gave them a list of coordinates, the furthest one being a hospital North of the Airport, so they decided to take a vertibird there and work their way back to the Airport.


	8. Clawface

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack gets injured.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge TW for blood, character injury, and general Violence(TM)

Once they found the components they needed, the two of them started heading back to the airport. Jack was told the vertibird grenades were to be saved for emergencies and Danse seconded this notion, so it was a long walk back to the airport for them. Jack wasn’t too nervous about it- he’d traveled long distances before and it's not like Danse didn’t have his back. Having a big, power armor clad Paladin alongside you made traversing the wasteland a bit easier. People were more scared of you and assorted mutated monsters were easier to handle. All of them, accept one. 

They were passing through Concord, and Jack remembered it from when he first arrived in the Commonwealth about a month earlier. It was empty, however, a ghost town, like many of the ruins out there, so they walked through without bothering to soften their steps or trying to remain inconspicuous. There were a few blood bugs to pester them, but nothing a single shot from a laser rifle couldn't take care of. As they walked down the street towards the “Museum of Independence” or whatever it was called, Jack could hear some sort of rumbling. He stopped in his tracks, careful to listen for what made the sound. 

Danse stopped as well, inquiring as to what had halted him. “What is it, Knight?” 

“Sh,” Jack hissed, then whispered: “You hear that?”

The rumbling got loud and louder, and soon the ground shook. It seemed to be coming from behind them, down the street at the three way intersection they had just crossed. Just as the rumbling reached its peak, the metal trap doors set into the pavement burst open and a Deathclaw arose from the ground beneath them. It roared ferociously, and Jack found his feet glued to the ground as it barreled towards them. Danse took cover as the monstrosity bound Jack’s way and soon it was upon him, knocking him to the ground and holding him down with its massive claws. It roared in his face, gearing to strike, and Jack thought this was it for him. 

Then a clash, and he felt a searing pain across the bridge of his nose and in his left arm. He saw red as blood pooled into his eyes, and the next thing- darkness. 

*****

There was a sound of rain pounding on a wooden roof as Jack came to. He blinked his eyes open, letting the dim, grey light hit his face as he tried and failed to sit up as he felt his arm buckle underneath him. He gasped, feeling the pain surge through him. There was a hand on his bare shoulder, worn and warm. 

“Hey, hey,” called a calm, but familiar baritone voice. “Take it easy, Jack.” Danse.

“What... Happened?” he managed to choke out, pushing the words passed his dry throat. 

“Deathclaw,” Danse said. “Got you in the face, and the arm. If I hadn’t knocked it off you in time, I don’t think…” He didn’t finish the sentence. “I don’t know what happened to them but the smoke grenades are gone. Maybe we lost them or they were forgotten at the airport, but that doesn’t matter. All I care about is the fact that you’re still breathing.” 

“That’s rather touching of you, Paladin,” Jack said, feigning a smile. “Or I guess I should say, my knight is shining power armor.” 

Danse cleared his throat, clearly flustered by the comment. “Yes, well,” he said. “A simple thank you would suffice.” 

There was silence as Jack stared up at the ceiling. Danse had dragged him into one of the empty shops nearby for cover as he patched up his wounds. He wondered how long he had been lying there on that makeshift bed beneath him. He wondered how long he had made the Paladin worried. 

“Can I ask you something, Jack?” 

Jack took note of the fact that he wasn’t being called “Knight” at the moment. Something was different. “Sure,” he said. 

“I saw you freeze when the Deathclaw came barreling at you,” Danse said. “Like you had been paralyzed. Why didn’t you move?” 

Jack sighed. “I was scared,” he said. “Terrified.” He reached up with his good hand and touched the scars on his mouth. “I… I already told you I was attacked by one years ago but… I didn’t tell you the full story.” 

“What happened?” 

“I was, oh, 19 I think?” Jack began. “I ran away from home because my parents were… Any way, in my travels I had a run in with a Deathclaw. It left me on the brink of death and I surely would have died if I hadn't been saved by a group of people that called themselves the Khans. I’ve been terrified of them ever since.” 

“You made it sound like you killed it yourself,” Danse said. “I had no idea.” 

“Yeah, well,” Jack said. “I’ve been known for my ability to omit the truth if it favors me.” 

“Yeah, I’ve noticed,” Danse said with a chuckle. “Listen, I just gave you a stimpak right before you woke up. It may take a bit, but we can wait until you’re well enough to travel before we leave.” 

“Are my legs fine?” Jack said. 

“Yes…” 

“Then I’ll walk.” Jack used his good arm to try and hoist himself up, but Danse placed a hand on his shoulder to force him back down. 

“Knight, as your Superior Officer, I’m going to have to insist that you stay put,” he said. There it was, the Perfect Proper Paladin we all know and love. “I’m no field scribe, but I’m pretty sure your arm is broken. Even if your legs work, traveling with that kind of injury is dangerous.” 

Jack plopped down on the straw beneath him and sighed. “Can I at least smoke a cigarette?” he said. 

“Normally, I would say no,” Danse said. “But just this once, I’ll indulge you.” He pulled the pack of cigarettes and a lighter out of Jack’s bag where he had hidden them and pulled them out, taking the liberty to pull one out and hand it to Jack. He lifted it to his mouth as Danse lit it, seeing as how his other arm was indisposed. He breathed in, held it, then exhaled the smoke, letting the nicotine rush go to his head with a sigh. 

“I can’t really fathom why you enjoy that,” Danse said. 

“It’s called a chemical addiction, Paladin,” Jack jeered snidely. 

“Yes, I know,” Danse sighed as he stood up. “I’m going to try and find something to use to make a splint for your arm.” Then he walked away and out of the building, strangely bare of his power armor. Jack had a good view of his ass from where he was laying, but he decided not to ogle his CO. Now wasn’t really the time.


	9. Cosmic Punishment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haylen and Rhys happen upon Jack and Danse on patrol and get them the help they needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for more descriptions of injury.

The Paladin had managed to find some cloth and a couple small pieces of wood in order to make a crude splint and sling for Jack’s arm. Setting it into place was probably one of the most painful experiences he had ever had, but once it was over, a lot of the pain was gone, and a huge weight was off his shoulder. Danse saw fit to let him have a dose of Med-X to take care of the pain for now. It still hurt but instead of sharp and throbbing it was a dull ache that was just barely tolerable. He had a feeling once they managed to get back to the Prydwen he’d be laid up in bed for even longer than before. 

“I didn’t pin you as someone with that kind of medical training,” Jack commented, his head slightly fuzzy. It was hard to stay awake. 

“We all get basic first aid training in our early years in the Brotherhood,” Danse said. “In the interest of the wellbeing of our comrades.” 

“Hm. Glad you remembered it.” 

There was a sound of voices from outside. Danse perked, cautious of who might be approaching. He grabbed his gun and took a defensive stance, hiding beyond the door frame as the voices got closer. When two men walked by the entrance, he jumped out and pulled his gun on them, only to find a field scribe and a knight instead of any raiders or scavengers. Scribe Hayel and Knight Rhys on recon. He lowered his gun and gave a sigh of relief. 

“Aren’t you two a sight for sore eyes,” he said. 

“Paladin Danse,” Rhys said. The two of them gave him a salute. “What are you doing this far from the Prydwen?” 

“Knight Clawface and I were on a mission,” Danse said. “He got injured and we lost our smoke grenades.” 

“Is the Knight alright?” Haylen asked. “Does he need any medical assistance?” 

“Yes, of course,” Danse said. “I did what I could, but if you could examine him-” 

“I’m already on it.” She pushed passed the Paladin inside the dilapidated building to where Jack dozed on the ground. He groaned in pain when she touched his splint. 

“Oh, quit being such a baby,” the Scribe said. “Hold still.” 

Danse sighed again, relieved that Jack would get the proper medical attention he needed. 

“May I ask how the Knight Clawface was injured?” Rhys asked.

“Deathclaw,” Danse said. “I took care of it, though, so there’s once less monstrosity around to worry about.” 

“Of course, sir, as expected,” Rhys said. “Excellent work.” 

“Listen, did you bring any smoke grenades with you?” 

“Of course, sir,” Rhys told him with a nod. He pulled one from his bag and handed it to the Paladin, who took the initiative to move out into a more open space and launch it into the air. The smoke drifted upwards, hailing their desperate need for transportation. Now they just had to wait. 

The Paladin turned to go back inside and check on his charge and Scribe Haylen. He kneels next to Jack. “How is it?” he asked the Scribe. 

“You did a pretty decent job with the splint, considering the circumstances,” she said as she wrapped a new one in clean gauze. “The bone was set in place expertly as well, I barely had to do anything besides give him a proper splint.” Once the splint was wrapped, she slipped it back into the sling and Jack sighed, thankful that he was no longer being man handled by the Scribe. He closed his eyes again, still drowsy from the pain killers he was given. 

“That’s a pretty gnarly gash on his face, though,” Haylen said. “Definitely gonna leave a scar.” 

“Not like I don’t got plenty already,” Jack scoffed, not bothering to open his eyes. 

“Hey, cheer up,” Haylen said, patting his good arm. “If it makes you feel better, I think it makes you look really tough.” 

“Don’t patronize me, Haylen,” Jack said weakly, having no strength to argue with her. 

Haylen stifled a giggle as there was a sound of whirling blades overhead. There was a vertibird landing nearby, relatively quickly considering how far they were from the Prydwen. “Alright, buddy,” Haylen said, slipping an arm under Jack’s to help him up. “Vertibird is here.” She let him out to the middle of the square while he limped sleepily along with her. 

She loaded him on to the vertibird, sitting him on the floor of it as she climbed in herself to hold him steady. “Are you coming along Paladin?”

Danse had almost forgotten he wasn’t in his power armor and went to retrieve it before loading up onto the vertibird. Rhys climbed on last, taking place at the minigun turret as they took off. The flight was short and they were at the Prydwen in minutes. As soon as they were docked, Haylen dragged Jack to the infirmary to get treated by Knight-Captain Cade. Danse sighed. They were safe- Jack was safe. Now it was his job to report to the Elder. 

***** 

Jack was less than pleased about being stuck in his bunk for another week with daily rounds of stimpaks to make him heal up faster. He didn’t mind the pain killers, though. He wouldn’t even play games on his Pipboy, or even hold a damn book without being in pain. He was reduced to listening to all the other soldiers talking among themselves in between dozing off from the Med-X. He got near daily visits from the Paladin, inquiring about his well being, saying he was supposed to report it to Cade, but Jack thinks he was just concerned for him. It would almost be sweet if he wasn’t so gruff and professional about it. 

In his bunk he had a lot of time to just think. That’s all he really could do sometimes, and his mind often drifted back to that day back in Concord. He remembers the Paladin speaking to him softly, almost fondly, forgoing formal titles in favor of concern for Jack's well being. Even now, he kept calling Jack Knight or using his “last name”, but what was it about seeing him injured that made Danse forget his authority, forget Jack’s place below him? Of course he was probably just worried, people often have a slip of the tongue when worried about people that they care for, even if it’s in a professional manner and not one of personal interest. Even still, his soft voice, the gentle way he would touch the Knight as he was delirious with pain and from the Med-X, the look he gave him when he woke up from being knocked out- it was burned into Jack’s brain. Something about him was different, but he couldn’t place a finger on it. 

Days passed, and he was finally allowed out of his bed, though this time he was under careful scrutiny so that he wouldn’t re-injure himself again. Cade examined him and gave him the green light for field work so long as he promised to be less reckless. Afterwards Jack caught himself staring at his new scars in the mirror as he shaved for the first time in a week. He traced the broad indent across his cheek and the bridge of his nose, going in almost exactly the same direction as the others. If it weren’t for its freshness, he could have sworn all three of them had been sustained in the same attack. Then he saw the scar on his arm where it had broken. He didn’t know if the bone had broken through the skin or not, but something had definitely cut him. He sighed, not exactly happy about it.

He hadn’t cared about his scars, and even made a name for himself in regards to them, but now, it felt like cosmic punishment, being subjected to the same thing over and over. He sighed, rinsing the leftover shaving cream from his face, ready to take on his next assignment.


	10. Layover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack is healed from his wounds and he and Danse are sent out (again) by Proctor Ingram to retrieve parts for some generators, but things are tense between the two now since the attack.

He was called down to the airport to report to Danse and Proctor Ingram, where they stood on the open concret plane that was formally the airport terminal. Ingram was tinkering at some control panel as sparks of electricity flew on lines from it to the other components of the transporter. Jack wasn’t going to pretend he understood what was going on here besides the fact that you probably had to stand on the big platform for it to teleport you. He was greeted by Danse, once again wearing his power armor- something he had gotten used to seeing him without in the past week. Whenever he visited Jack in his bunk, he wore only his flight suit and boots. It was good to see him back in his power armor, but at the same time, it felt less… personal. Less human. 

Danse approached him, his demeanor professional and proper as always. “Knight Clawface,” he said. “Glad to see you back on your feet. Hope you’re ready to work.” 

Jack sighed. “Ready as I can be,” he said, and tried to give Danse a knowing grin, but Danse looked away, not making eye contact with him. For some reason it seemed the friendly rapport they had developed over the past months was gone, dissolved in a cloud of smoke. Jack’s heart sank. He wondered if Danse thought less of him for his fear of Deathclaws or for freezing in battle the way he had, but he pushed the thought from his mind. There was work to be done. 

“To sum things up,” Ingram said as the two of them approached the console she worked at. “I’ve got the basic components up and running, but I still need a serious amount of power that the generators on the Prydwen or in the airport can’t handle.” She typed at the console, not looking up at either of them as she worked. “I need someone to gather supplies to make some extra generators. Shouldn’t be too difficult of a task.” 

“Why are you sending us out to run your errands?” Jack asked, feeling impatient and cranky. “Can’t some initiate do you bitch work for you?” 

“I would ask you to watch your tone when speaking with the Proctor,” Danse snapped at him, glaring at him, then quickly looking away. Jack huffed, sneering at him behind his back. 

“Last time I checked, this teleporter is part of _your_ mission, Knight,” Ingram said, she turned from her terminal, crossing her arms the best she could in her power armor frame. “So I guess you two best get cracking. I already loaded a list of supplies onto a holotape. Paladin, if you would?” 

Danse nodded and handed the holotape to Jack, who slotted the small piece of plastic in his pipboy and downloaded the list. Copper, rubber, steel, ceramic- basic components used for building electrical equipment. Jack nodded, turning his pipboy screen off. “We’ll get started right away, Ma’am.” 

“Good. On your way, then.” Ingram turned from him back to her terminal. 

Jack started walking away and Danse followed behind him. 

“I am very disappointed in your behavior today, Knight,” he chided him. “You should know better than to speak to a Proctor like that.” 

“Well, what can I say?” Jack said, unamused. “I’m not in a good mood today.” 

“That’s not a good excuse, and you know it.” 

“Yes, sir,” Jack spat, glad that his back was to the Paladin so that he couldn’t see how he was scowling. “Let’s just get going.” 

Jack started to wonder why he had stayed so long. He had no stake in this search for the Institute, he didn’t really give much of a damn about “saving humanity from itself” or cataloguing artifacts of a society that orchestrated its own destruction, or exterminating mutants and ghouls. He had originally only planned to stay long enough to rake in a profit. But then there was Danse. While he was not typically the kind person Jack hung around, he had his own charm about him. He was strong, intelligent, loyal, attractive- Jack shook his head, and decided to occupy his mind with something else as they walked.   
The first place they decided to check was Diamond City- Mhyna was sure to have a few of the things they were looking for. She always had a full stock of junk for the taking, and Jack was a pretty smooth talker, so he was always successful at getting her to lower her prices for him. Once they had cleaned out the multitude of garbage she had that could maybe be used for a generator, Jack made a suggestion: 

“It’s almost dark out, should we stop for the night to rest?” 

“There’s no place defensible near by,” Danse answered. 

“There’s the Dugout in.” 

“I would hardly call that defensible.” 

“No, but we’re in one of the largest settlements in the Commonwealth,” Jack said. “It’s not like we’re gonna get attacked by raiders or ghouls or super mutants while we sleep in a hotel room.” 

“I’m not concerned about them,” Danse said with a sigh, looking around as if they were being watched. “I don’t trust the people here,” he whispered. 

“You don’t trust the people anywhere we go,” Jack said, exasperated. “You don’t trust anyone who isn't in the Brotherhood.” 

“Exactly,” Danse said. 

Jack rolled his eyes. “Look, just for tonight. I was just stuck on the Prydwen for a week and I don’t feel like going back again right now. We can head out first thing in the morning.” 

“I’ll need a place to store my power armor,” Danse relented.

“You can take it in with us, I’m sure Vadim and Yafin won’t mind.” 

Danse sighed. “Fine,” he said. “But just for tonight.”

The Dugout Inn was full of Diamond City citizens just trying to scrape by, but All Danse could really see was potential threads. It took some coaxing from Jack to convince him to exit his power armor and leave it in the corner. Jack paid the brothers for a room for the night, plus extra to keep careful watch over the suit of armor that Danse left in their lobby. 

“You’re positive you can trust them?” Danse asked. 

Jack shrugged. “People love caps out here more than almost anything,” Jack said. “They'll do anything for a quick buck. Learned that the hard way a long time ago.”

Sometimes he was baffled at how much more Jack seemed to know than him. Maybe he wasn’t skilled with laser rifles or power armor the same way he was, but he had a way with people. He could talk his way into getting whatever he wanted. Of course charisma doesn’t work on the Prydwen the same way it does down below, but there was an advantage to Jack’s silver tongue. And something about it that made Danse’s heart beat fast- but he pushed that from his mind, trying not to focus on anything as he sat next to Jack at the bar to take his dinner with him. 

Jack ate silently, not bothering to make the same rude small talk he normally did when it was just the two of them, and Danse almost missed it, but he didn’t dwell on it, just ate his questionable stew and drank his soda in silence. Yafim started chatting with Jack, like an old friend, and Jack took to the chatter like a fish takes to water. Danse suddenly felt awkward and alienated, pushing a piece of mystery meat around in his bowl nervously. Jack looked over at him and tapped his shoulder lightly. 

“Right, Danse?” he asked. 

“Hm?” he hadn’t realized Jack was trying to talk to him. He looked over at him. Upon seeing the fresh scar on his face he felt a pang of guilt, and averted his eyes to the worn surface of the wooden bar in front of him. 

“I was talking about Proctor Quinlin,” he said. “Said he probably got something stuck up his-” 

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t bad mouth our Brothers around civilians, Jack,” Danse said, taking a sip of his soda.

Jack frowned, discouraged and irritated by Danse’s demeanor. “Anyway, as I was saying-” he started again, turning back to Yafim. 

Danse sighed and stood. “I’m turning in for the night,” he said. Jack waved him away, not bothering to meet his eyes. He walked away to their room for the night- a small bedroom with two, tiny beds. They were almost cots, but they looked more comfortable than the bunks on the Prydwen, so Danse wasn’t complaining. He got undressed, crawled into the bed and pulled the sheet over his shoulders, trying not to think.


	11. Instiutionalized

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack infiltrates the Institute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i apologize in advanced about how. fucking. slow. this is going. Im sure if you played the game you already know all the shit in the brotherhood route, so this may be a little boring to read, but i promise we'll get back to the gross sappy Jack/Danse pining in the next chapter.

They finally returned to the airport with the materials needed and Ingram got to work with building the generators, requesting Jack’s assistance with the building part. Even if her power armor frame gave her the ability to walk, she wasn’t very disastrous with it. So, under her careful guidance, Jack built the generators over the course of a few days and finally hooked them up to all the equipment. When they were finally powered up, they crackled and buzzed with electricity. Jack thought they looked like they were going to fall apart with a stiff breeze, but Ingram reassured him. 

“They only need to work once,” she said. “Teleport you in, and once you're inside, I’m sure you can find your way out.” 

“Wait- me?!” Jack said indignantly. “Why do I have to do it?” 

“It’s your mission, is it not?” Ingram asked. 

“No, my mission was to find a way _in_ , no one said anything about being the one to to actually do it.” He looked at the platform nervously as it shook. 

“Well, here’s your new mission:” Ingram said. “Infiltrate the Institute, get as much information as you can, and make it out alive.” 

“And one more thing, Knight,” called a voice. It was Elder Maxson, approaching the platform with Danse following behind him. “We want you to find someone.” 

“May I ask who?” Jack said, going stiff, as if he was trying to avoid the gaze of a predator. 

“Her name is Madison Lee. She was a scientist who helped us years ago, and we’re going to need her help again.” 

“Ok?” Jack said. “And we’re sure she’s in the institute?” 

“Positive,” Maxson said. “She left after our Liberation of Project Purity in the Capital Wasteland, saying she planned to join them. So unless she somehow perished since then, I find it highly likely she would be inside.” 

“What do you need her for?” 

“All in due time, Knight,” Maxson said, waving away the question. “For now, are you ready to go?” 

“I don’t know,” Jack said, clenching and unclenching his firsts. “What would I even need to do to prepare.” 

“Probably just bringing a weapon would be fine,” Danse said. “I don’t imagine you’ll be in there long.” 

Jack already had a rifle strapped to his back, so he sighed and said, “I guess I’m ready as I’ll ever be.” He looked to Danse, who turned his gaze to the ground to avoid looking at his face. “I guess you’re not coming.” 

“No,” he answered. “The Teleporter is only powerful enough to be used on one person, one time, so I’ll be staying behind.” 

Jack sighed, looking over to the platform. “Alright,” he said. “Lets get it over with.” 

*****

He made it inside safely, however his legs gave out from underneath him, his whole body trembling like he had been hit in the stomach at full speed by a baseball. He gasped for air, feeling like he had been underwater for twenty minutes without resurfacing, and he was close to vomiting before he finally regained his second wind. He stood up on his knees and found himself in a circular room with round lights on the walls that let out into some kind of control room with a terminal. Just what he needed. 

Jack sat at the desk chair in front of it and loaded up the holotape Ingram had given him, downloading all those juicy Institute secrets. Once he was done, he found an option on the terminal to initiate the teleporter. He was tempted to leave then, say he couldn’t find Doctor Lee, but then the Elder would probably be suspicious that he was only gone for twenty minutes. He didn’t exactly feel like being disciplined, so inside he headed into the elevator. A voice of the intercom gave a speech, saying they were expecting him and that he would be a great asset to the Institute if he only gave them a chance. He wasn’t exactly paying attention to the particulars. At some point he made it to a room and where he saw a young boy with black hair being held in what looked like a glass cage. Jack felt a furious bile rise in his throat. 

He walked up to the glass and placed his hand on it. _Why would they treat a child like this? Are they really such worse monsters than I thought they were?_

“Um, hello,” the child said, standing up. “Who are you?” 

“Hey, kiddo,” Jack said, his face softening. “You alright in there?” 

“Yes?...” The child seemed confused by his line of questioning. 

“Listen, I’m getting you out of here,” Jack said. 

“Why? I’m happy here with Father,” the child said. “Father! Father help me!”

“Sh-sh! Kid, quiet down!” 

“Father!” 

A sliding door nearby opened and a man with grey hair and a grey beard stepped out. “Synth Unit S9-23, recall code ‘Sirrus’.”

Then the child seemed to… deactivate, slumping over with his arms dangling while still standing. 

“What did you do to him?” Jack demanded. “Did you hurt him? What have you people been doing here, experimenting on _children_?” 

“You are… not who I was expecting,” the man- Father said. 

“What, were you expecting the fucking President of the NCR?” 

“NCR? What-” 

“Look, nevermind,” Jack said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Can you just… explain what I just saw?” 

Father went into detail- the child was a synth, an almost exact clone of himself as a child. An experiment, and, according to Father, not a real child. He told Jack he was waiting for another man who he expected to infiltrate the Institute- Mateo Green. 

“You seem to recognize that name,” Father said. 

“Yeah,” Jack told him. “We crossed paths a few times. Guess you could say we’re friends.” 

“Look, uh, Clawface, was it?” Father said. 

“You can just call me Jack.” 

“Jack. You’re a remarkable individual if you made it into the Institute like this. No one in our history has made it inside without us directly teleporting them in. We would be interested in working with you. You may refuse, if you wish, and we will allow you to leave in peace.” 

Jack felt furious. He had known they were the “bad guys”- they used their synths to destroy places without leaving a single trace, infiltrating settlements with spies, doing inhuman experiments- but what he just left an even worse taste in his mouth. He wanted nothing more than to give a flat “fuck no” and just leave, but he was on a mission. He had to find Doctor Lee, for better or for worse. 

“I think…” he started, thinking carefully about his next words. “I’d like to take a look around first. Get to know you guys a little more before I make a decision.” 

“A reasonable request,” Father said. “Very well. You’ll be allowed to move about our facilities freely, but be aware, you will be watched the whole time. If you do anything that could hurt the Institute, do not think we won’t root you out with prejudice.” 

Jack swallowed and nodded. He was suddenly very aware of the position he was in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i tried to make it clear in this chapter that Jack has a soft spot for children- he's a child of abusive parents so he gets protective of them, even if they're almost adults. he doesn't like it when kids get hurt, so that's why he was so concerned for synth shaun when saw him in basically a cage.


	12. Yellow Sunsets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack returns from the Institute.

Danse sat on a crate outside near the destroyed teleporter. He was outside his power armor, leaning on his laser rifle, waiting tiredly for any sign of Jack. It had been two days and he was still gone. It couldn’t have taken that long to get Doctor Lee, or at least find out if she was in the Institute at all. Right? Since then, he came out to the airport to wait for him when he wasn’t doing whatever miscellaneous task the Elder or any of the Proctors sent him on. It was really all he could do, because otherwise he was beside himself with worry. 

He felt himself slipping, dozing off, but he forced his eyes open as the sun set yellow over the Commonwealth. He had to be there when Jack came back. He didn’t know why, but he had convinced himself that he needed to be the first person to see him. Eventually, he gave in, and dozed, still leaning on his rifle, but he was woken by the sound of thunder and the ground shaking. There was a flash of blue light and there was Jack, falling to his knees and gasping like a fish out of water. Danse was on his feet immediately to help him and support him as he caught his breath. 

“Jack, are you alright?” he asked. “Are you hurt?” 

Jack gasped and grunted for another second, then found his composure. “Yeah, I-I fine,” he said in a breathy voice. “That, uh, teleporter… takes a lot out of you.” 

“Did you find what we needed?” Danse asked. “Did you find Doctor Lee?” 

“Yeah,” Jack said, straightening up and brushing Danse’s hands away, pulling the holotape out of his pocket. “And I got this holotape loaded with shit for Ingram.” 

“Excellent work,” Danse said. “Why don’t you head to the Prydwen to report to the Edler? And give that Holotape to the Proctor and your way.” 

Jack gave a salute. “Yessir,” he said, then walked away. Danse sighed and followed after him after a moment, and they took the same vertibird up to the Prydwen. Once on board, Jack said nothing as they parted and Danse went off to his quarters. He was tired, but now he finally felt like he could sleep now that Jack was back safe and sound. In his room, he undressed, taking his flight suit off and leaving only his shorts and a white tank top. He laid down on his bed, staring up at the ceiling as he so often did. 

Despite his exhaustion, he felt that he couldn’t sleep. He was still thinking about Jack, and that scar. He kept thinking about how if he had been a second early, it wouldn’t be there. He wouldn’t have been hurt the way he was. Jack was Danse’s responsibility- or so he kept telling himself. Jack was a fully realized Knight. Even if he was his subordinate, it's not like the man couldn’t handle himself. And yet it still nagged at the back of his mind. The worry, the pit in his stomach he gets when he thinks about Jack unconscious on that hay bed more than a week ago, the relief he felt when Jack came to and as well as when he made it back from the Institute safely. 

Suddenly he saw Jack in his thoughts, shoulder length blonde hair framing his face messily as he laughed, his nose wrinkling with the sound. The way his hands worked when he field stripped a pistol, his arms flexing beneath his flight suit. His charm, his quick wit, his way with words- all these thoughts were making him feel like he was going to melt into the damn mattress. He tried to suppress these images from his thoughts. This was inappropriate. This was unprofessional. Jack was his subordinate. He couldn’t- they couldn’t-

He sat up and sighed in frustration, having the strangest feeling that he wasn’t going to be able to sleep tonight. He got up and put his flight suit and boots back on, leaving the room to take a stroll out on the catwalk. There he found Jack leaning against the railing, in only a tank top, jeans, and a pair of snakeskin boots. He was looking out into the Commonwealth below them, at the few neon signs that miraculously stay illuminated after 210 years. His blond hair blew in the breeze gently, framing his face the same way it always does, despite Danse’s many attempts to get him to trim it, but now Danse didn’t mind his long hair.

When he heard Danse approach, Jack looked at him, gave a halfhearted salute with a “Paladin”, then went back to staring over the city. 

Danse took a spot next to him, a few feet apart, looking over at the horizon as the starry night sky sprawled above them. “It’s an amazing view, isn’t it,” Danse said. “Not many people get to see the land from this high up.” 

“I suppose it is,” Jack said, not looking his way. “The wind feels nice. Almost reminds me of nights out in the Mojave.” 

“What was it like?” Danse said. “Living there? I know it’s a desert in what used to be Navada, but my knowledge of the place as it is now is limited.” 

“Dry, hot as fuck for about 9 months of the year but it gets freezing and windy at night time. Lots of cacti and dead trees and bushes everywhere, plenty of raider gangs and ghouls, and a big ass dam on the Colorado river that powers the City of New Vegas.” 

“New Vegas? Like Las Vegas?” Danse asked. 

“Yeah, pretty much,” Jack told him. 

“Why did you leave?” 

Jack didn’t answer. He stood up straight and sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “It was a long time ago,” he said. “I don’t exactly remember all the details.” 

He was lying, and Danse could hear it in his voice, but he didn’t press the issue. Jack didn’t have to talk about the Mojave if he didn’t want to. He wanted to know, he wanted to be more familiar with Jack’s past, but this wasn’t exactly a great time. 

“Danse,” Jack said, and Danse looked at him, directly in the face without looking away for what seemed like the first time in weeks. “Why won’t you look me in the face?” 

“I-...” Jack was finally catching on. He was a smart man- observant and more aware of his surroundings than he would lead you to believe. He noticed something wrong and Danse figured he couldn’t hide anything from him now. 

“... You got hurt because of me, Jack,” Danse said, now looking down at his hands. “If I had been a few seconds fast-” 

“Really?” Jack said. “That’s all it is?” He then gave a soft chuckle, rubbing his face up and down with his hand. “That’s a bit of a relief, I thought you were upset with me for something.” 

“What? No, you haven’t done anything wrong,” Danse told him. “I’ve just… felt guilty ever since the attack. You got hurt while under my command, and that makes your injury my responsibility.” 

“Danse, I keep telling you that you don’t have to blame yourself when I get hurt,” Jack said. “If anything, it’s my fault for being such chicken shit in the face of a deathclaw like that.” 

“Jack, trauma is a very serious thing, you shouldn’t downplay-” 

“That’s not the point, Danse,” Jack sighed, looking at him pointedly. “If you hadn’t been there, I would have been mincemeat. I couldn’t be more thankful to have made it out of there alive.” 

Danse felt his ears get hot under Jack’s gaze, and hoped that Jack couldn’t see in the dim light, or at least that he would think it was because of the chilly autumn air. “Yes, of course,” Danse said, trying to maintain his composure. “I would never leave a comrade behind.” 

“Well, I think I’m gonna turn in for the night,” Jack said. “Get some sleep before they send us out on another mission.” 

“Right,” Danse said. “Goodnight, Kight.” 

“Sweet dreams, Paladin,” Jack said, giving a halfheart, almost… flirtatious salute to the Paladin. He left Danse alone on the bridge with his thoughts and the cold night wind blowing over the Commonwealth. The sun had set completely now, leaving only a very faint line of purple on the horizon to ever indicate it had been in the sky at all. He felt the cold peirce his flight suit as he gazed out on the city below, and he tried to keep his mind on the biting wind on his skin and in his hair, but it kept drifting back again to Jack. Jack, Jack, Jack- every thought circled back to him. He couldn’t write it off as a Commanding Officer having concern for his subordinate anymore, or just general comradery. It was more than that, but Danse tried his damnedest to push it down. It wasn’t appropriate. 

Danse stood up straight and sighed, heading back to his room for another night of restless sleep.


	13. Closer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Danse get close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i kinda fucking sudo-sicence bullshitted my way through Danse instructing Jack on how to use the power armor bc i didnt feel like doing any research on it so forgive me, i'm lazy.

Elder Maxson called Jack and Danse to the flight deck the next morning and informed them of Liberty Prime and how Madison Lee was going to help get it up and running. First, however, they were being sent out on a mission into the Glowing Sea to retrieve a payload of nuclear warheads for Liberty Prime. Jack didn’t know much about the Glowing Sea besides that it was bad fucking news. Hardly anyone survives accept for ghouls and people lucky enough to have some powerful power armor- like the Brotherhood for example. Jack wasn’t too keen on having to wear his Knight’s power armor and he hadn't even stepped foot into the suit since he was gifted it as part of his promotion. He thought power armor was uselessly clunky and unmaneuverable, so he didn’t understand the Brotherhood and their insistence on using it, but he sort of understood the rad resist aspect. Even if he personally had a resistance to rads, from what he heard, that wasn’t going to be enough in the Glowing Sea. 

Danse took the initiative to give Jack a power armor crash course before letting him climb into the armor. 

“The armor itself does most of the heavy lifting,” Danse explains. “But use for extended periods of time can lead to strain and serious fatigue, so it's best to not push yourself too hard. Strength and endurance are key.” Danse took a stance behind his charge, grabbing his arm from the elbow. “Now when you move in the armor, your movements are slower and you have to put more effort into them to get your body to go faster. You’ll have to use about 20% extra force to get your punch to land right, for example.” He moved Jack’s arm in and out to simulate what it might feel like in the power armor as he moved it. Jack had to seriously concentrate on what he was saying, because the only thing on his mind was how close Danse was and how his chest was practically pressed against Jack’s back. 

“I think that’s everything,” Danse said, stepping away from Jack while seeming entirely unfazed by the close contact. He must have to do this kind of thing with newer recruits often. “You just twist the knob on the back and jump in.” 

Jack followed the instructions and once inside the armor, was immediately uncomfortable. The padding in the suit wasn’t that great and he felt a lot of hard metal pressing against him. Walking felt like he was wading waist deep in the ocean. 

“Ugh, I really don’t get how you do this all day,” Jack said, startled by the strange way his voice sounded in his helmet. Danse’s voice came through on little speakers inside the helmet. 

“You get used to it,” he said. “Takes a lot of practice to be really proficient, but once you get the basics, like I said, the suit does most of the work for you.” He climbed into his own suit, then continued. “Are you ready to continue our mission?” 

Jack sighed. “Affirmative,” he said. 

“Then let's go.” 

******

Haylen had set up camp on the edge of the Glowing sea- a checkpoint for Danse and Jack to meet her at. It was pretty sparse: two tents, a fire pit and some logs to sit on, a few crates of supplies, a generator, a sentry turret, and some flood lights. Haylen was sitting on one of the logs when the two of them made it to the camp. 

“Finally,” she said, standing up to dust her pants off. “Now we can get to the debriefing.” 

“Fire away, Scribe,” Danse said as Jack stepped out of his power armor. 

The Scribe explained the plan- infiltrating the silo to get the payload for Liberty Prime and signalling for a vertibird to pick it up. It was of the utmost importance to the Brotherhood that this mission was a success. One she was done going over the details, Dane and Jack settled down to eat with the rations Haylen had provided for them. They weren’t too bad. Pretty good quality dried meat bought from Diamond City, some bread and purified water. Jack and Danse sat by the campfire eating as the Scribe catalogued supplies and made notes in her logs. Jack finished most of his food pretty quickly, lamenting that he didn’t have an extra can of pork and beans since he was still hungry. 

“I don’t understand how you can stomach that stuff,” Danse said, taking a bite from his piece of bread. “Surely the radiation makes you sick? It can’t be good for you.” 

Jack shrugged. “I’m resistant,” he said, sliding down from the log so that he was sitting on the ground, then leaning against it with his hand behind his head. 

“That would imply you were some type of radiation mutant,” Danse said. “I’m sure that would have come up in the medical exam with Knight Captain Cade.” 

“Well, maybe I lied a little,” Jack said with a smarmy grin. 

“I still find it a little hard to believe.” 

“No, I mean it.” Jack sat up and pulled off his glove, then rolled up his sleeve. He held out his arm so that Danse could see the bite mark shaped scar on his arm. It was sizable and didn’t look like any other animal bite he had ever seen. “I was bit by a giant gecko,” Jack said. “I was about to go scavenging in an abandoned vault that was absolutely lousy with radiation and the geckos got me. I think the radiation and the bite was what caused it because now I can see in the dark and resist low levels of radiation better than most humans.” 

Danse looked at the scar, then back up at Jack, and gave a dismissive “hmph.” 

“Doesn’t really change anything for me,” he said. “You’re human enough and you’re a good soldier. No reason to banish you for a mutation you can’t control.” 

“Aw, that’s so sweet,” Jack said in faux gratitude, placing a hand on his chest. “That really warms my heart, Paladin.” 

Danse rolled his eyes, though he couldn’t suppress the smile growing on his lips, so he hid it in his cup as he took a drink of water. Jack’s sense of humor and proclivity towards sarcasm took some getting used to him. Not only because of his own issue detecting tonal shifts in a person’s voice, but because it was very un-Brotherhood-like to be so facetious. In time, though, he came to appreciate it. It was familiar, almost comforting at this point. 

When the time came for everyone to sleep for the night, Jack and Danse were given the bigger tent while Haylen slept in the smaller one by herself. The tent was cramped, but there was enough room for two bed rolls and a lamp, so they couldn’t complain. Danse had snagged a book from Haylen and was reading on his bedroll after undressing to his underclothes. Jack was laying down in bed, trying to wrap the blanket as tight around himself as possible. Autumn was wearing on into winter, and that made rough sleeping difficult for him because he had a naturally low body temperature. He wasn’t sure if it had always been that way or if it was because he was part lizard now, but he still had trouble regulating body heat, and it was pretty evident by the fact that he hadn’t taken his flight suit off before bed like usual. Danse could see him shivering out of the corner of his eye and closed his book. 

“You cold?” he asked. 

“No,” Jack said with dry sarcasm. 

“Do you want my blanket?” 

“No.” 

Danse sighed and rolled his eyes. “Look, I don’t need it, alright?” he grabbed the rough brown cloth and tossed it over him. “I’ve slept through colder situations before.” 

Jack grumbled, tugging the extra blanket over himself. It was already pretty warm from being pulled over Danse’s lap before now, which dramatically lessened his shivering. Danse went back to reading as Jack could finally feel his muscles relax underneath the blankets. It was almost… domestic. 

“Thank you,” Jack reluctantly mumbled out. 

“Don’t mention it,” Danse said. He reached over to turn the lamp off and closed his book, setting it to the side. After sliding down so he was laying on the bedroll, he turned so that he had his back to Jack. 

The small space made it so their backs were just barely separated by a half inch of empty air and two thin blankets. Even if they weren’t really touching, Jack could feel the heat coming off of him. It was warm, pleasant, inviting- and a lot of other positive adjectives that Jack could not think of because his mind was too preoccupied by how close they were. A small part of him wanted to move ever so close, just enough to feel that heat directly against his back. The other part of him- the louder one, the smarter and more logical one- said “Well obviously that would be really fucking weird don’t do that”, but he didn’t listen. He shifted, trying not to make it seem like he was doing it on purpose, so that his shoulder blades just barely touched Danse’s. 

Danse seemed to shift slightly at this, but didn’t move away. In fact he seemed to move closer, wordlessly, not offering an explanation or questioning why Jack was so close. It wasn’t intimate, far from it, as Danse only barely pressed back against Jack, not daring to move further, but it definitely wasn’t professional either. And Jack was ok with that. It was nice, honestly, being this close to him. He was warm, which helped stave off the shivers they would occasionally run through Jack’s body, and he made Jack feel safe, protected. 

His would still shiver occasionally, though, and with Danse this close it wouldn’t be hard for him to feel it. So, he turned over, pulled the blankets off of Jack and over him, and scooted closer to him so that he was flush with Jack’s back. The multiple points of heat where Danse’s body touched his were too much. Jack felt like he was going to combust. 

“Danse-” 

Dans cut him off. “You’re cold. I’m not. It’s not impractical to share body heat like this.” 

That seemed to shut him, as he snapped his mouth closed. He just gave a meek “Yes, sir” and pretended like his heart wasn’t about to pop out of his chest. He was warm, but how the hell was he supposed to sleep like this? Spooning with his fucking CO, of all people. He couldn’t take this, he had to say something. 

He moved, turning over so that he could face Danse, ready to give him an earful.

“Danse-” 

But the Paladin cut him off against, this time with his lips. He reached up to gently grab Jack’s neck, pulling him into a cursory, experimental kiss. It was warm, just like the rest of his body, and soft, with a tenderness behind it that seemed so out of character for the tough guy military commander persona the Paladin curated. When he pulled away, he looked horrified by his actions, yanking his arm away from Jack’s face. 

“I-I’m sorry, that- that wasn’t- I should-” he started moving to leave the tent but was stopped by Jack grabbing his arm and pulling Danse back towards him. He looked Danse in the eyes, piercing him with an icy blue stare that set his entire body on fire, and simply said, “Shut up” before kissing him again. Danse leaned into it, welcoming the kiss as Jack let the Paladin push him back down onto the bedroll. He wrapped his arms around Danse’s neck, kissing him deeper. After a moment of this, Danse pulled away just far enough to mumble a protest. 

“We shouldn’t be doing this, it’s not-” 

Jack shook his head. “Don’t think about it too much, Danse,” he said, then kissed him one more time. Danse relaxed, letting himself fall into the kiss and wrapping his arms around the Knight’s waist. And then Jack completely forgot how cold he was before.


End file.
